National Charity League’s Nutmeg Chapter celebrated its graduating class of 2019 last month.
The National Charity League’s Nutmeg Chapter held its annual tea at the Amber Room Colonnade on Danbury March 24, and raised over $2,000 for local philanthropies. The ceremony also celebrated the graduating class of 2019.
This year’s theme, “Philanthro-Tea”, was inspired by NCL’s vision: “through the mother-daughter relationship, National Charity League, Inc. will develop strong women leaders serving and impacting communities today and for generations to come.”
“Our Chapter Tea is a great chance to come together to not only celebrate the philanthropic work of our mother and daughter teams through the year, but also to be able to congratulate our outgoing senior mothers and daughters and to thank them for their service to our community,” said Angie Breitenbach, NCL Nutmeg Chapter president.
This year’s seniors also shared their experiences over their six years with NCL while showcasing their individual fashion style during the annual senior fashion show.
For more information, email membershipnutmeg@nconline.org
Ridgefield Police Department will be increasing distracted driving enforcement as part of a statewide campaign Thursday, April 11.
“We will be utilizing extra patrols and spotter-based enforcement techniques to observe those violating Connecticut’s laws,” the department said in a release. “Those caught, will be issued a ticket.”
Ten houses and one commercial lot worth a total of $6,337,325 changed hands in deeds filed with Town Clerk Wendy Lionetti from March 19 to March 27, with $13,495 collected in conveyance taxes. Transfers include:
56 Spire View Road: Secretary of Housing and Ubran Development to Drenna Reineck, March 19, $304,050.
26 Yankee Hill Road: Michael and Sandra Vitolo of Naples, Fla. to Andrea Morse, March 19, $651,000.
23 Mimosa Place: Trust of Diane Peterson of Jackson, Wy. to Matthew and Alanna Gallo, March 19, $540,000.
72 Langstroth Drive: Gisela Gust to Douglas Clark of Titicus Road, North Salem, N.Y., March 22, $337,600.
Saunders Lane (Lots 1 and 2): Pamela Gugliotta of Catoonah Street to Felicity and Joshua Panas, March 25, $1,075,000.
508 North Salem Road: Felicity Panas of Saunders Lane to Donna Love, March 25, $960,000.
391 Barrack Hill Road: US Bank National Trust of Coppel, Texas, to Thomas Byrne of South Salem, N.Y., March 25, $339,675.
19 Silver Spring Park Road: Michael and Jacqueline to Jerzy and Joanna Kopacz, March 26, $410,000.
48 Nod Road: Alliant Investments LLC to Robert Martzloff of Brewster, N.Y., March 26, $635,000.
105 Spring Valley Road: US Bank National Trust of Highlands Rand, Co., to Wojcheich and Agata Szumski, March 27, $560,000.
79 Manor Road: Joseph and Tracy Giaconne to William and Dorothy Doty, March 27, $525,000.
The spring gentle chair yoga classes at Ballard Green, held in the Bergquist Hall Community Room, will begin on Tuesday, April 9, and continue through May 21.
Classes run from 11 a.m. to noon.
These classes are suitable for those who would like gentle movement in a chair and can stand holding onto a chair.
Yoga poses, meditation, reflection and breathing exercises are introduced. They are open to everyone. Residents of Ballard Green and Prospect Ridge may attend for free. Others may come for $5.
For more information, call the instructor, Shanta Marshall Ballou at 203 733-6281.
ACT (A Contemporary Theatre) of Connecticut will host a summer camp for aspiring actors to explore the art of musical theater including character development, voice, dance, and overall production etiquette.
The full-day, two-week summer camp will take place from July 15-26. Young actors will be split by age into two sessions —“Giants in the Sky” for students ages 7-12, and the Broadway musical “13” for students ages 13-18.
Both shows will be performed the evening of Friday, July 26, and tickets will be free with general admission.
For more information on the camp and registration/audition details, visit actofct.org.
From left to right: Sandra Capriotti, Ridgefield Thrift Shop president; Allison Carballo, director of development for Family and Children’s Aid (FCA); and Debbie Murphy, Thrift Shop finance committee chair. The grant from the Thrift Shop will support FCA’s mission, services and programs, and benefit clients in need.
Sophia Pilla, a senior from Immaculate High School, has received national recognition from The Scholastic Art and Writing awards competition.
Sophia, a Ridgefield resident, won the Silver Award for her graphic design piece “Detroit” in the design category, after winning the Gold Key Award in the State Scholastic Arts competition.
Her work was selected by some of the foremost leaders in the visual and literary arts for excellence in originality, technical skill and the emergence of a personal voice or vision. Receiving a national medal places Sophia within the top 1% of all submissions.
Students across America submitted nearly 350,000 original works this year in 29 different categories of art and writing.
According to Sophia, “Detroit is a graphic representation of the city of Detroit and it’s long history with the automobile industry.
“I wanted to capture the city’s historic love of automobiles while incorporating the city itself. The car pictured is a Detroit-based Duesenberg from 1930,” she said. “I thought the message should be that automobiles made Detroit what it is and not the other way around,” she said. The image of Detroit’s skyline is inside the car’s headlights showing the city’s reflection.”
This was the first piece of art that Sophia ever submitted.
“I created an earlier version of this piece over a year ago and when my graphic design teacher, Samantha Kohler, asked for a piece to submit, I knew I felt the best about ‘Detroit.’ And with an additional year of experience with the programs Illustrator and Photoshop I was able to update my original piece and the art submitted is the final look,” she explained.
Sophia didn’t think she would win anything and is understandably excited to have received this honor. But she also wins in other areas, as she is a nationally ranked Equestrian and competes around the country year round in both Equitation and Jumper disciplines.
Sophia has top finishes in the equitation, hunters and jumpers divisions at premier shows across the country. In 2018, she won the Overall Washington Equitation in Lake Placid (N.Y.) and the Maclay in Wellington (Fla.), which qualified Pilla to compete in the George
Morris Equitation Championship. Pilla also won multiple titles in the Junior Jumpers in 2018, qualifying for the US Jumper Championship in Washington, finishing second in the speed round. Pilla finished in the top 25 at the USEF Medal Finals in 2017. She was also a two-time national champion in the Junior Hunters at Devon (PA) in 2015. Pilla recently won the $10,000 Junior Jumper Classic at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington.
After she graduates, Sophia will attend the University of Georgia’s College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences where she will be a part of their Division 1 Equestrian Team. She plans to become a large animal vet one day.
State Reps Ken Gucker and John Frey and State Sen. Will Haskell, far right, answer questions during at the Ridgefield Library Saturday, March 30. — Macklin Reid photo
Common outlooks, consensus on many issues, and occasional, respectful disagreements marked an open meeting with Ridgefield’s three state legislators, sponsored by the League of Women Voters.
“I like to see the collegiality,” Ridgefield League of Women Voters president Marilyn Carroll said after the event at the Ridgefield Library on Saturday, March 30. “It’s nice to see Republicans and Democrats working together.”
A tone of mutual respect seemed evident among the three legislators: 111th District state Rep. John Frey, a 21-year veteran Republican, and his two first-term Democratic colleagues, 138th District state Rep. Ken Gucker and 26th District state Sen. Will Haskell.
About 60 Ridgefielders came in from the morning’s warm spring weather to hear the three discuss state issues and answer questions on topics ranging from school regionalization to taxes, tolls, gun control and medically assisted suicide.
School regionalization
The league’s questions included one about school regionalization. Did the legislators support any of three bills pushing the regionalization idea? Did they see any good aspects to the concept?
“It was a little bit of trial by fire,” said Haskell.
The issue came up early as he was just settling in for his first session in Hartford, and there were proposals on school regionalization by fellow Democrats, including the governor.
It didn’t take him long to realize his constituents were against the idea, so he should be, too.
“Part of the reason people live in Ridgefield is the quality of the schools,” Haskell said. “…I’d never support anything that could undermine the quality of our schools.”
While there was “a lot of pressure to ‘just say no,’ ” Haskell said, “I think it’s better to have a seat at the table.”
One approach now sought to “incentivize school regionalization” — not requiring it, but focusing on “how schools can share back-office services if they’re very small and have declining enrollment.”
Only one town in his district — Redding — fit the parameters. “I called. They said ‘we already do this stuff,’ ” Haskell said.
On regionally shared services, he said, “voluntary is the key word.”
Rep. Frey was strongly opposed.
“When not in the legislature, I sell real estate,” Frey said.
“There’s one reason people live to Ridgefield — our schools,” he said.
He’d had the experience himself, and spoken to others in real estate business who’d had prospective buyers holding off on house purchases out of concern they’ll pay Ridgefield prices for Ridgefield schools, and then end up in a regionalized district due to state meddling.
“We’re losing transactions in Ridgefiled because of school regionalization, pure and simple,” Frey said.
Education involves a lot of tough decisions.
“I trust our local Board of Education to make those decisions,” Frey said.
There might be some areas other than education where regional efforts can save money.
“We can do animal control regionalization. We can do dispatch regionalization,” Frey said.
But he’s skeptical of any efforts to push regionalization of schools on communities that don’t want to do it.
“When I hear ‘we’re going to do it with carrots and less sticks’ — there should be no sticks,” Frey said.
While initial regionalization proposals may not fly, Frey worries the concept may come back now that it’s been under discussion.
“It’s a big, big concern,” he said.
Gucker’s 138th District includes Ridgefield north of George Washington Highway, a swath of Danbury and part of New Fairfield.
“In my district is the largest high school in the state, Danbury High School,” he said. “Fifty-three languages are spoken there. We’re not going to regionalize with anybody.”
But Gucker said it was important to look at the goal of the regionalization proposals — to reduce unnecessary spending by sharing services.
“If we can knock a few hundred thousand dollars off the Board of Education budget,” he said, “we can start fixing some potholes.”
Tolls?
League questioner Linda Hanley asked the legislators about tolls, which have been proposed in the governor’s budget.
“I don’t support tolls,” said Frey.
Former governor DannelMalloy had a plan for 82 tolls on Connecticut’s major highways, and now Gov. Ned Lamont was proposing 52 tolls in the state, Frey said.
There are proposals for tolls every six miles, Frey said. Other states do a better job, he said.
“Massachusetts has 14 tolls on the Mass Pike, and three outside Boston. They collect $347 million,” Frey said. “… Exits on the Mass Pike are 30 miles apart.”
The plans put forward for Connecticut have too many tolls.
“I can drive to Montreal without paying a toll,” Frey said. “… Yet I won’t be able to drive to Costco in Brookfield without paying two tolls.”
“There are some really big faults with a 52-toll plan in Connecticut,” Frey said.
Gucker, too, was skeptical of tolls, though he said they were an attempt to deal with the serious problem, decaying transportation infrastructure, without relying heavily on more borrowing — which he considered the wrong way to go.
“How do we fix our roads?” he said. “…I don’t like the bonds concept. I also don’t support tolls.”
Advocates of tolls proposed them only for the state’s major highways, he said.
“They’re looking at doing them on 84, 95 and 91,” he said, adding that the idea of tolls on the Merritt Parkway goes “up and down.”
He said talk of “trucks only tolls” was impractical at this point because the concept is subject to a lawsuit in Rhode Island.
“I don’t see a plan that works,” Gucker said of tolls. “I also don’t buy into all the fear mongering.”
“I actually do support the concept of tolling,” Haskell said. “We’re the only state between Maine and North Carolina who doesn’t ask drivers to contribute.”
Tolls no longer have to mean long lines of cars stopped, polluting while drivers wait to toss coins into baskets.
Under one plan, Connecticut drivers could get a 30% discount, with an additional 20% for commuters who regularly take a given route and pass under the same toll gantry over and over.
Ghost guns
The league also asked the legislators if they supported bills banning “ghost guns” — the weapons, or weapons parts that can be purchased and assembled without serial numbers — and also two bills requiring the safe storage of firearms in homes and cars.
Frey said he’d cosponsored the ghost guns bill.
On the safe storage bills, he said, “I’ve cosponsored the one on motor vehicles” but concerning the bill on safe storage “in homes” Frey is “not yet a cosponsor” although he added he’d consider it. “I’m open to doing that,” he said.
“I’m a cosponsor of all three of those bills,” said Gucker.
“If you’re making a ghost gun, you’re doing it for obvious reason,” he said. “It circumvents all our background checks.”
The bill on safe storage of guns in homes was known as “Ethan’s law,” he said, after a boy who’d been killed in an accident with gun that wasn’t locked up at a neighbor’s house. He also supported the bill on safe storage of guns in motor vehicles.
“If you’re going to leave your gun in your car, lock it up, put it in the trunk,” he said.
“These are common sense,” Gucker said of the safe storage bills. “They don’t take away from anybody’s rights. It’s common-sense gun ownership.”
“I’m a cosponsor of every one of these bills,” Haskell said.
“You should not be able to order gun parts on the Internet and assemble them,” he said.
Currently, he said, “In Connecticut, if a gun isn’t loaded, you don’t have to put in the safe.”
Some gun owners object to laws about firearms as attacks of their Second Amendment rights, Haskell said, but he didn’t think reasonable laws are unconstitutional.
“I see the words ‘well regulated’ in the Second Amendment,” Haskell said. (The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says: “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”)
Residents line up to ask question at the League of Women Voters forum over the weekend. — Macklin Reid photo
Gender and bathrooms
During questions by citizens, the legislators were asked if they supported two bills that addressed “LGBTQ rights.” One bill would ensure “gender non-conforming students” have “safe access to bathroom facilities while in middle school and high school” and the other would outlaw the use of “gay and transgender panic” as a criminal defense.
“I’m a cosponsor of both bills,” Haskell said, though he wasn’t sure if they’d move forward in the legislative process.
On the gay and transgender panic bill, Haskell said that currently “If you’re so shocked someone comes out to you, you can use that as a defense in a homicide.”
Frey was skeptical that panic or shock at the revelation someone is transgender could be used in a legal defense for an assault on them.
“That’s a hate crime,” Frey said.
As for the bill on school bathrooms, Frey said, “before I commit to that” he would want to talk to some Ridgefield school officials.
“I’m meeting with the Board of Education. I’d like to get their input on that,” he said.
Gucker said he was comfortable with the LGBT rights bills.
“I’d have no problem supporting those,” he said.
Car taxes
Another citizen question concerned a proposal for the state to take over car taxes that currently go to municipalities, and redistribute the revenue. “There seems to be a Robin Hood mentality,” said the questioner.
“You may push people to register vehicles out of state,” Gucker said. “I think it would further exacerbate the problem.”
There are a variety of attempts by the state to draft the help of towns and cities in its efforts to climb out of a fiscal hole decades in the making.
“I don’t think you’re going to see too many of these bills go anywhere,” Gucker said.
Frey also didn’t think the car tax proposal would get through the legislature — at least not without some changes.
“In my 21 years, we’ve never adopted the governor’s budget,” Frey said. “It’s kind of like sausage-making.”
But he acknowledged that the state’s fiscal distress would have to be addressed, even if legislators and constituents alike were unhappy with the solution.
“In the end, some tax increases may be part of the equation,” Frey said.
Haskell said the state’s goal — in addition to raising revenue — was to make car taxes fairer. Currently, the taxes paid on cars varies with town and city mill rates, which are greatly affected by the value of the local real estate.
“A Prius in Bridgeport has a higher tax on it than a Ferrarri in Greenwich,” Haskell said.
He said he’d “like to find a way” to make car taxes more fair.
“I look forward to working with the House moderate caucus to find a middle road,” Haskell said.
Assisted suicide
A citizen who later said he watched his mother, his mother-in-law and his wife all die of cancer asked where the legislators stood on a “compassionate” right to die bill that would allow terminal patients with less than six months to live to choose a “peaceful end” with pills provided by a doctor.
“I’ve heard both sides,” said Frey. “… I see both sides of the issue.”
It isn’t a simple question. “There’s the issue of someone who can’t take the pills themselves, maybe they’ve got ALS,” he said.
He offered to talk to the questioner privately after the program.
“I’m not closed-minded on that issue,” Frey said.
Gucker said he backs the bill.
“I watched my grandmother die of cancer. It was one of the most horrific things I’ve ever had to watch,” he said.
“I wouldn’t have a problem supporting this,” Gucker said.
He added, “If you’re against this, don’t do it. Leave people to make their own decisions … This is something that has to do with compassion.”
Haskell, too, was sympathetic to the bill under consideration, but said he understood it was “a few votes short” of getting out of committee.
“It has strong protections against abuse,” he said, including that the person “has to request it twice in writing” for medically assisted suicide to be considered legal.
“The consensus of the medical community is engaged neutrality” Haskell said. “They’re not opposed to the bill.”
Windmills, solar panels, geothermal heating and cooling — where they’re allowed to be located and how high; are some of the questions the Planning and Zoning Commission indicated Tuesday, March 26, that it hopes to answer, as it writes new regulations governing renewable energy systems.
The commission is handing the bulk of the work to Assistant Planner Daniel Robinson and Charles Vidich, a senior project manager with the Western Connecticut Council of Governments (WestCOG).
Robinson asked the commission for some guidance on what the regulations should cover.
Commissioners said the regulations should include not just solar, but wind and geothermal heating and cooling systems as well.
Vice Chairman Joe Fossi said that systems in the front yard should require a special permit — which are issued by the commission after a vote.
He suggested renewable energy systems should be allowed in the back yard, but the commission should place a restriction on height. He was less certain about systems built in the side yard, since those can also impact a neighbor’s view.
Screening
“As far as screening goes, I think we have to be sensitive about that,” Fossi added. “The problem is that if it’s done by as of right, who’s going to decide what proper screening is?”
He recommended that a licensed landscape architect should be a requirement to ensure proper screening.
Commissioner George Hanlon said he would personally like to see solar panels restricted to the ground.
As for screening, he sounded less certain of the commission’s role; “If I don’t like my neighbor’s yard, then I put screening up.”
There is also the possibility that neighbors could plant fast-growing vegetation to screen their view of nearby panels, and in 10 years block the sun from reaching the panels, Hanlon pointed out.
Planning and Zoning Director Richard Baldelli cautioned that the new regulations would take several months to write.
But the new rules may also serve as a model to other towns, he said.
“It appears that there may be no model regulation in Connecticut,” Baldelli told the commission, “and it appears that you might be creating it in working [with Robinson and Vidich].”
The Planning and Zoning Commission and Inland Wetlands Board are splitting up this November— but who gets the Aquifer Protection Agency in the divorce?
Currently, members of the Planning and Zoning Commission serve in three roles — as zoning commissioners, Inland Wetlands Board members, and officers of the Aquifer Protection Agency.
Last November, voters decided to split the Inland Wetlands Board away from the commission. The wetlands board therefore will become a separate, elected board in the election this fall.
But that still leaves the Aquifer Protection Agency, which is tasked with ensuring the town’s groundwater remains clean and uncontaminated by development and other types of land use.
The Planning and Zoning Commission members think that role should stay with them.
“When the Board of Selectmen passed the town charter, the language they put in was ‘we serve in our capacity as the Inland Wetland Board,’” said Chairwoman Rebecca Mucchetti Tuesday, March 26.
She said Daniel Robinson, the town’s assistant planner, did some research and discovered that of the 69 towns in the state that have aquifer protection agencies, 63 are managed by the Planning and Zoning Commission — and the trend is moving to keeping the agencies with Planning and Zoning because it deals with land use regulations, Mucchetti said.
The six commissioners present all indicated they were in favor of sending a letter to the Board of Selectmen saying the Aquifer Protection Agency should remain the purview of the commission.
Hunting deer in Ridgefield will be the subject of a public hearing debate in June.
Ridgefield’s deer hunt debate appears headed for a public hearing sometime in June.
After a presentation on the Conservation Commission’s study of forest understory and a discussion of the hunt, the selectmen in late March agreed on a public hearing to reconsider the deer hunt conducted on town land annually since 2006. The selectmen and Conservation Commission agreed delaying the hearing until June would allow time to solicit a variety of experts to set the stage for public discussion.
“There are two sides to the debate,” First Selectman Rudy Marconi said.
“We began this because of four things,” he said:
“The incidence of deer/auto accidents — we had the highest rate in state of Connecticut — this distinction has come down dramatically.
“Ridgefield had one of the highest rates of Lyme disease in the state. Statistically, we still are running 200-300 cases a year.
“The damage to the understory in our open space properties.
“And the very costly negative impact the deer were having on residential landscaping.”
The $500,000 in grants recently distributed by the Ridgefield Thrift Shop (RTS) is just a small part of the tremendous gift the Ridgefield Thrift Shop has given to Ridgefield since 1937.
There is a reason shoppers line up to get into the store every day. And it starts with the RTS volunteers. Every volunteer is committed to the store, from volunteers who have been with RTS for 30+ years, to new volunteers who commit hours each and every month. And it shows. The volunteers care about their work, but they also care about each other through good times and bad.
What a shopper sees in the RTS is just a small part of what goes into keeping the store the amazing place it is. The process of sorting mountains of donations and determining prices is no easy task. In our affluent town it is easy to think everyone has money, but the truth is there are people in Ridgefield and surrounding areas that are in need. The RTS affords people the opportunity to buy quality, affordable merchandise with dignity. No small task.
It’s time to thank the Ridgefield Thrift Shop for the overwhelming contributions, seen and unseen. The grants are extraordinary, but the service the RTS provides goes far beyond the grants, and that needs to be celebrated.
Strolling customers on Main Street might be able to access the Internet by using free public Wi-Fi.
Free public Wi-Fi — wireless Internet access for cell phones and other mobile devices — in downtown Ridgefield received tentative support from the Economic and Community Development Commission (ECDC) Monday night.
“You have one hub — which would be in town hall — and then you have a series of booster-receivers that go around, so we could do all of the village” as well as Ballard Park, said John Devine, vice chairman of the ECDC.
According to Devine, the system would cost about $25,000 to install, and then $10,000 per year in upkeep.
Devine said he was inspired by a recent trip to Waterville, Maine, which installed free public Wi-Fi a year ago.
“It makes a difference, and once you do it you have marketing capabilities that you can start leveraging,” said Devine.
5G, privacy
ECDC member Gus Ryer asked whether the advent of 5G networks — the next generation of cellphone networks that promise faster Internet connections — would make the investment obsolete.
“If Verizon’s offering that, and eventually you realize it’s going to come here and AT&T is going to follow — why spend the twenty-five grand for Wi-Fi in the village that people are going to be more and more skeptical of?” said Ryer. “I don’t sign onto strange Wi-Fi networks, they’re not secure, and why spend $10,000 a year on something that might be obsolete in five?”
Devine argued the system would still attract users, because it would offer speeds similar to a 5G network without eating into users’ data allowance from their cellphone carriers.
“It will have the same bandwidth as 5G … What you’re offering is unlimited free data,” he said.
Even for a small town like Waterville, public WiFi attracts users.
“The median income of Waterville is $40,000, they had a 127,000 users,” Devine said.
Chairman Arnold Light seemed in favor of the idea, but didn’t think the town would support the cost.
“It’ll be a tough sell for the Board of Selectmen,” he said.
“Well, we should stay ahead of it,” said Devine
Advertising
ECDC member Amanda Duff said she was also concerned about the security of a public network, but asked if there would be an opportunity for marketing through popup ads when users login.
Most public Wi-Fi at coffee shops and other venues have a popup that forces users to agree to the network’s terms and conditions before they can connect.
Those popups also typically include some advertising for the business.
Duff suggested that if businesses supported the cost of running the Wi-Fi network, they could “own the landing page” that users see when they log on and accept the terms and conditions of using the network.
The login could also allow restaurants or other businesses to acquire email addresses, which users would use to sign in.
“Email addresses are gold these days — or Facebook likes,” said Duff. “Most hotels, in order to connect you have to like their Facebook page or leave a review.”
“Let’s just keep working on it,” said Devine, who suggested there might be grants available from Eversource or wireless carriers that would offset the cost.
“It’s happening with or without us,” Devine said, “other towns are implementing it.”
On Friday, April 5, at 1 p.m. journalist, speaker, and author Evan Weiner will host a seminar at Founders Hall entitled “1968: 50 Years Later,” an informative discussion about how the tumultuous events of 1968 changed history and shaped the world of today.
Such topics will include Martin Luther King’s assassination, the 1968 Hangover, Nixon entering the world stage, the war carrying on and man landing on the moon. Weiner has been a regular on BBC radio as well as Talk Sport London, and he speaks at various colleges. He writes for the UK publication The Guardian.
This event is open to the public – all are welcome!
Founders Hall, a donor-supported education and recreation center for people age 60 and older, is located at 193 Danbury Road. For more information, call 203-431-7000, email Founderhall@founders-hall.org or visit founders-hall.org
The woman was officially charged for evading responsibility at 11:49 p.m. police headquarters on Tuesday, March 26.
She was also charged with failure to maintain her lane, after police say she turned herself in for striking a utility pole on North Street on the night of Feb. 21.
Police Capt. Shawn Platt said that the suspect was identified after a witness helped police locate the white SUV involved in the crash, and verify the car’s registration.
She was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by Danbury Superior Court and was released after posting $250 in bond.
According to a report, the female drive is due in court Tuesday, April 11.
Two Girl Scouts from Ridgefield Troop 50465, Della Fincham and Anna Bradley, completed their Silver Award recently by creating and placing two signs at local historical sites.
The girls enjoy local hiking and have come across various sites that appeared to have a rich history but for which information was not readily available.
They thought hikers would enjoy learning more about these sites.
With help from Ridgefield Town Historian Jack Sanders, the Ridgefield Historical Society, town records and online research, Della and Anna created signs that explain some of the historical significance of two local sites: the site of the Conley Mansion at Bennett’s Pond State Park and John Barlow’s blacksmith shop at Seth Low Pierrepont state park.
The girls raised funds for the signs by offering historical hikes at the Bennett’s Pond site.
They would like to thank Nathan Hale of the state DEEP for his help in installing the signs.
Conservation Commission members, from left, Alan Pilch, Daniel Levine and Tim Bishop visited the Board of Selectmen and were reappointed Wednesday, March 20.
After sharing thoughts on a variety of issues, four Conservation Commission members were reappointed by the Board of Selectmen on Wednesday, March 20. But there was also interest in someone who wasn’t reappointed.
“Ben Oko has decided not to stand for reappointment,” Conservation Commission Chairman James Coyle told the selectmen. “After 18 years, it’s going to be a strange place without him.”
One of the commission’s leaders for many years, Oko’s last term was as an alternate.
Reappointed by the selectmen were Conservation Commissioners Daniel Levine, Timothy Bishop, Alan Pilch and alternate Kitsey Snow.
“I fully support all of them,” Coyle told the selectmen.
Levine, Bishop and Pilch attended the March 20 selectmen’s meeting. Snow couldn’t make it.
“I knew I cared deeply about the town and our environment and open space,” Levine told the selectmen.
“I didn’t know what I could contribute.”
Levine said he hoped to “raise awareness” through his service as a commissioner.
“A lot of people don’t know what the Conservation Commission does,” he said.
Levine also said he was active in last year’s charter revision debate concerning the separation of the Inland Wetlands Board from the Planning and Zoning Commission — which was approved, and will go into affect after a new wetlands board is put in office as part of this November’s election.
“I was very vocal and active about the splitting of inland wetlands and planning and zoning. That was a deep concern for me,” Levine said.
“What was awesome for me was people showed up — no matter what side you’re on.”
Land use
Alan Pilch told the selectmen he’s a very active participant in the Conservation Commission’s advisory reviews of the land development applications that come before the Planning and Zoning Commission.
“I’m an engineer and a landscape architect. I’ve been doing this for 35 years,” he said.
“… I think one of the real challenges we have, in general, is there’s a lot of pressure of land use on habitats.”
Development has used up nearly all the good land in town.
“Every site now becomes challenging,” Pilch said.
“Steep slopes and bedrock and wetlands — that’s what’s left.”
He said the commission had been looking to update the natural resources inventory it did a few years back.
“Part of that has to do with the deer hunt,” Pilch said.
He added, “I, too, was strongly involved in seeing the inland wetlands and planning and zoning split.”
‘Team player’
Tim Bishop recalled his initial urge to seek a seat on the Conservation Commission.
“I was relatively new in town. I wanted to get involved,” he said.
“I, too, professionally am an environmental consultant — as Rudy knows, on the property remediation side,” he said.
Bishop expressed concern about protecting groundwater and the quality of well water drawn to serve homes.
“I don’t know the percentage of wells in town, but it’s pretty high,” he said.
First Selectman Rudy Marconi said he’s becoming concerned about the use of salt on roads, and the potential long-term affect on groundwater.
“It’s something we need to look at,” Marconi said.
Bishop agreed salt is a concern.
“Once it’s in the fractures in the bedrock and the aquifer, you’re not getting it out,” Bishop said.
Bishop said his approach to working on the commission is open-ended.
“I try to keep my hands involved in everything, and to be a team player,” he said.
New alternate
Kitsey Snow, now a commission alternate, couldn’t attend the meeting, but she did write to Marconi expressing her wish to be reappointed.
“The commission has had a very busy and productive year,” she wrote, “and there are many ongoing projects I would like to continue to work on.”
The reappointment of all four was approved unanimously by the Board of Selectmen.
Ridgefield Bicycle Company store manager Adam Ray is excited about the spring donation drive.
Ridgefield Bicycle Company is holding its annual spring bicycle donation drive this Saturday and Sunday, April 6-7.
Bicycles of all sizes in repairable condition are accepted. Donations will be collected by North East Community Cycles, a 501-c3 and community initiative dedicated to providing safe, refurbished bicycles, free of charge, to underprivileged children and adults in Fairfield County.
Through improved mobility and self-empowerment, bicycles change lives forever by increasing access to employment, education, health care and a healthier life style. Bicycles will be collected all week through 4pm on Sunday, April 7 at Ridgefield Bicycle Company, 88 Danbury Road.
Amos House and its residents thank the Ridgefield Thrift Shop for their very generous grant.
As one of the only transitional living facilities for women and children in Connecticut your contribution will make a huge difference for those in need.
The Ridgefield Energy Task Force has organized a presentation for business owners, building owners, and the general public.
The presentation, “Save Money by Reducing Energy,” will feature two case studies in energy savings.
Richard Hubli, manager of building operations at the Wilton Library, will detail that organization efforts at great cost savings and energy reductions.
Briggs Tobin and Larry Curry from Ridgefield Academy will explain how RA greatly reduced its energy thirst.
“We are thrilled to bring you these great case studies,” said task force chairman Ben Oko.
The presentation takes place Tuesday, April 23, 4-6 p.m. at the Ridgefield Library. All are welcome. Register by contacting task force member Geoffrey Morris: gmorris@townvibe.com.
